Lovely Lily
by roflshvuakomail
Summary: Lily is facing a hard time in her life- her parents are gone,she's stuck living in Daigon Alley and she's losing her passion for life. Watch as Lily learns to love again, with the help of some of our fav characters- the Marauders. Rated T for paranoia :
1. Daisy's Cafe

**Hi guys! So this is my first ever fanfic, and I'm kinda nervous x) I don't know what it's like, so please, flamethrowers- keep it too yourselves (:**

**Disclaimer: No, I'm not excessively rich or famous, and don't own the four-eyed midget (: Therefore, I am not Jo Rowling, and Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. At all. Period. Though he would be a good Christmas present…..**

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><p>"Lily! Lily, what are you doing? Stop day-dreaming and serve those customers!" yelled Mrs Patmore.<p>

"Yes, Mrs Patmore! Sorry!" I replied, hurriedly straightening my apron and rushing to the counter.

I had been working at Daisy's café for exactly two and a half weeks now, and as such had gotten used to Mrs Patmore yelling at me all day. That woman sure was crazy- or, she was when there were customers involved. Otherwise she was a very kind, sensitive and intelligent woman who luckily happened to be sympathetic. She must be, or I wouldn't have this job. Don't get me wrong, I'm a hard worker and everything (hello, prefect right here), it's just that this summer has been a bit hard for me. I suppose it has something to do with being kicked out of my own home by my supposed loving sister, and having to live at the Leaky Cauldron. Mum and Dad would never have allowed this to happen, but they're both gone now- _no, Lily, don't think about that, you'll just get upset,_ I told myself. _Don't go down that track_.

I don't even have any friends to stay with- how pathetic is that? Sure, I have friends, and I'm relatively popular- but I haven't got any close friends like I used to. My best friend Lizzy decided to move back to New Zealand, and my other best friend Mary and I aren't even on speaking terms. I'd lost Severus back in fifth year- another painful topic which I won't get into. I suppose that-

"LILY EVANS, HURRY UP!" Mrs Patmore yelled again, interrupting my flow of thought. She stuck her head round the curtain to the store room where I was hiding. "Honestly, you're away with the fairies today! I'd send you home, if we weren't so busy. Now come on, I need your help."

"Sorry Mrs Patmore, I'm just a bit tired today." I replied guiltily.

"Yes, you look a bit peaky," she said, frowning. "Very pale. Then again, you're pale normally- and that vivid red hair doesn't help. Come on love, just help me through this rush and you can clock off early."

She disappeared around the curtain again, and with a sigh I followed her to the front of the shop. She was right, the café was packed, and there was a huge line that almost lead out the door- so much for clocking off early. _We'll be stuck here till Christmas, _I thought, and with another sigh started taking orders.

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><p>Two hours later, the rush had died down and we were able to have a breather.<p>

"I'm sorry about that dear," said Mrs Patmore, sitting with her feet on a pouffe and sipping a coffee. "Didn't realise we'd get that busy."

"That's all right," I said. "It's to be expected at rush hour in Diagon Alley."

"Hmmm," was all Mrs Patmore replied. After a couple of minutes of silence, in which Mrs Patmore had been scrutinising me closely, she started the conversation again. "How are you Lily?" she asked, in a surprisingly soft tone. "You haven't been sleeping well lately, I can tell. I know things are hard for you at the moment, and well- I just wanted you to know, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

I was shocked at the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat, constricting my voice. Mortified, I realised my eyes had begun to water up, and hastily wiped them. The force of my emotions was tremendous- how could a few words elect this kind of reaction? I was supposed to be tough and hard-to-get-to Lily Evans, not cry-baby Lily Evans. Well, if I was honest with myself, I was often the latter these days.

"Thank you, Mrs Patmore," I managed to choke out. It seemed Mrs Patmore understood, for she stood up and clumsily patted my back. I gave her a watery smile.

"Now, Lily, GO HOME," she said gruffly, suddenly returning to her former self.

"Thanks again," I replied. I hastily went out back to get my stuff and hang up my apron. After a quick look in the mirror, in which I noticed I did look rather pale, I hurried out the back door.

I loved walking through Diagon Alley at this time. The sun was just beginning to sink low, and it gave the narrow cobbled streets a nice orange glow- it was picturesque. There were still a few people out- it was summer, after all- and I breathed in a sigh of happiness. This is the only time of day where I feel that anything could happen. It fills me with a kind of hope that I hardly ever get these days.

"Hiya, Lily!" I spun about at hearing my name, and smiled when I saw who was calling. Jeff, who ran one of the restaurants, and who also happened to be drop dead gorgeous, was beckoning me over. "Come and have dinner Lils!"

"Sorry Jeff can't tonight," I said, walking over.

"Aw why not honey? You're here, aren't you?"

"True," I said, laughing. "But I'm really tired tonight, sorry. We had a long day at work today, and I was already functioning on little sleep."

"Oh, you poor thing," he said, pouting. "I hope you're not feeling too bad? And yes, I saw the line from your little shop- just about reached out of Diagon Alley itself!"

"Well, that's the price you have to pay for serving good food around here- long lines and long hours," I said, smiling again. Already I'd smiled more around Jeff than I had at any other point today. He has the ability to make me laugh no matter how I'm feeling and he's quite easy on the eye too. Pity he's gay.

"Oh, I know the feeling darling," he said, winking. He then paused and studied me more closely. "You know dear," he said, "you are looking quite pale. Or maybe it's just the red hair."

"You know, you're the second person around here to tell me that today," I said tersely.

"Oh hun, I meant no offence- I'd die to have your beautiful locks! But anyway Lily," he said, suddenly serious. "You're here, you're hungry, and I have a free meal waiting for you at your favourite table over there."

"Oh, go on then," I said, grinning. I never was one to turn down a free meal, no matter how tired.

"Brilliant!" Cried Jeff, and suddenly he propelled me to my seat. "And I have another thing that might cheer you up," he said, looking mischievous.

"What is it?" I said uncertainly. Jeff was prone to the more crazy plans- rather like the Marauders at Hogwarts- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Right; his names Antonio, he's from Italy, he's rather easy on the eye-if you know what I mean" Jeff said wagging his eyebrows. "He also happens to be recently single and I know he's into redheads. He's very nice, quite a catch, I'd say."

"NO! No, no, no, no, no. You are not setting me up with anybody, no matter who they are or how nice they are or whatever. I am going to eat my dinner in peace, thank you kindly, then go home and sleep. That's it," I added forcefully, because Jeff looked like he was about to interrupt.

"Well, if that's what you want," said Jeff sulkily.

"Thank you, Jeff," I said, softer this time. "It's not that I don't appreciate it, I really do. I just don't have any room in my life for a boy at the moment, and I'm very tired."

"That's ok hun, I understand," he said, sympathetic now. "Maybe I should have a go with him?"

"Of course, he'll love you!" I said, laughing now. Jeff smiled at me.

"Bon appetit," he said, and with a dramatic bow, flounced off to go serve a customer. I laughed again, and promptly tucked into my delicious Spaghetti Bolognese. Jeff was one of the many friends I had picked up in Diagon Alley over the past few weeks, and I was going to miss him the most when I returned to Hogwarts. Of course we would write each other, but it wouldn't be the same. We would eventually drift apart, as I do with most my friends, and never speak to each other again. People say to me that I'm blessed with the ability to make friends easily- they don't realise how hard I find it to keep them.

I finished my Spaghetti Bolognese and left a large tip on the table. I looked for Jeff to say goodbye, when I saw him chatting happily to a handsome boy with dark hair- Antonio, I presume. Smiling, I walked home- or, the closest thing I had to it.

When I finally got to my room in the Leaky Cauldron, I collapsed onto my bed, knowing that tomorrow would be exactly the same as today.

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><p><strong>So, what did ya think? Good? Bad? Terrible? Nothing? Reviews are candy canes at Christmas (:<strong>

**-roflshvuakomail (rolling on the floor laughing so hard voldemort used avada kedavra on me and I lived) x**


	2. Letters, letters, letters

**Hey hey (: Yeah I'm shocked too- an update so soon after the last one? But I'm sorry, don't get your hopes up folks- I won't be updating this frequently in the future. It just happened to be raining today, so I decided to write another chapter.**

**Also, thanks to those people who have put this story on alert! Thank you to my only reviewer, Heraclas- but honestly, I'm kinda sad that so many people alerted this story, and only one reviewed :/ **

**This chapter is a bit of a filler, not a lot happens, and I wasn't too sure when I was writing it. But anyway, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own dearest Harry, yadda yadda yadda, and this applies to any future chapter. If I did own Harry Potter, not every single one of the Marauders/ Lily would have died. Curse you Jo Rowling.**

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><p><strong>Two weeks later.<strong>

_Tap, tap, tap._

I groaned and rolled over. "Go away," I mumbled at the noise. "I'm trying to sleep."

_Tap, tap, tap._

I finally flung off my bed covers and looked for the source of the noise. Sitting on my window sill and tapping away were three owls. I hurried over to the window and opened it. The three owls soared in and landed on my bed with indignant hoots. One owl I recognised as my friend Lizzy's barn owl, Toffee. Attached to his leg was a particularly fat looking envelope. Next to Toffee there was a magnificent eagle owl bearing a letter with the Hogwarts crest. The third was a screech owl, bearing my copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Excitement coursed through me; the only owl that had come to me this summer was the owl carrying the _Daily Prophet. _I hastily retrieved the _Prophet_ off the screech owl and paid it a Knut, then untied my Hogwarts letter from the eagle owl. As one, the two owls stretched their wings and flew out the window, the screech owl clipping my ear as it left. "Thanks," I muttered, and went over to the third and final owl, Toffee. Slowly, I untied the letter from him and offered him some water out of my cat Mambo's water bowl. He gave a hoot of thanks and drank some gratefully. I could only imagine how far he'd flown, with his owner Lizzy being all the way in New Zealand. I opened the letter and two photographs and a bit of parchment fell out. Smoothing out the parchment, I read:

_Dear Lily,_

_It's been so long since we sent a letter to one another! Why didn't you reply to my last one? I'll admit to you, I thought it was because you no longer considered me a friend, but then I thought- this is Lily Evans we're talking about, she would never do that to me. I miss you so much it isn't funny! But great news, amazing news- I'm coming back! Yup, you read it correctly- I'm coming back to England! I know I had to move because my mum wanted to go back home, and because of the threat of You Know Who, but after much persuasion I managed to convince her that where Jake and I belong is at Hogwarts, and she finally agreed. We're moving in with Dad, and he's pretty keen about it all. He says he's been missing us terribly. Personally, I'd rather not move back in with him, and would prefer to stay at the Leaky Cauldron or something. I probably will end up doing that near the end of the holidays, and say it's because I want to be closer to Kings Cross Station. Oh, and we need to get together as soon as I arrive. Maybe I should pop around to your house? I really miss your mum's wicked brownies! _

_Life in New Zealand has been great, I admit, and the weathers much nicer here- but I miss Hogwarts so much it's like a constant toothache. Even more I miss my friends- you, Mary, even those morons the Marauders. I know you've never gotten on with them particularly well, especially my idiot cousin James, but they're great guys really. You just have to get to know them. But, then again, you might be friends with them now- I don't really know, it's been that long since we last spoke to each other. I know you and Mary aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment, and what she's told me about you I find hard to believe. We'll talk about that when we see each other. _

_How are your mum and dad, and how's Petunia? Still persecuting you because she's jealous? I bet she is. _

_I can't wait to see you hun, and pleasepleaseplease send your reply ASAP with Toffee. _

_-Lots of Love, Lizzy._

_P.S. There are two pictures attached. The first one is of me and Jakey at Auckland Harbour, and the second is a really cute picture of us three in first year that I found the other day. I love it, it's so adorable x_

I stared at the letter a little while longer after I had read it. A feeling of guilt and sadness was welling up inside me. I was extremely happy that Lizzy was coming back, don't get me wrong, but some of the things she wrote had upset me. She obviously doesn't know that my parents are dead- _of course she doesn't_, and nasty voice said in my head. _You never told her. You haven't told her anything at all. _As much as I hated to admit it, the voice and Lizzy were right- I hadn't sent her a letter in five months, and I hadn't replied to her last one. I had been pushing away another friend without realising it. But it didn't matter, because if this letter was anything to go by, Lizzy didn't mind one bit- if anything, she seemed determined to keep the friendship going, and to see what the matter was. I smiled. Lizzy really was the greatest friend you could have. This reminded me of another problem- Mary. So, she'd been telling Lizzy tales about me had she? She had some nerve. But I wasn't going to stress myself unnecessarily right now. I'd talk about it with Lizzy another time.

Remembering the post script of the letter, I had a look at the two pictures. The first, as Lizzy had said, was a picture of her and her younger brother Jake grinning madly at the camera. In the background was a stunning picture of Auckland Harbour, where the blue of the water was just magnificent. The inhabitants of the picture remained quite stationary, reminding me that Lizzy's mother was a Muggle. In contrast, the second picture contained three madly waving and grinning Gryffindor first years. I smiled as I looked at mine, Lizzy and Mary's faces. Those were happier times, when the three of us all got along. Flipping it over, I realised that Lizzy had written something on the back. _The Three Musketeers, 1/12/1971 -Lizzy's Birthday. _The Three Musketeers_. _I'd forgotten that we used to call ourselves that.

Thinking that I would reply to Lizzy later, I proceeded to open the _Daily Prophet_. After a quick scan of the headline (_Four Muggles found dead in home: You Know Who continues to terrorise_) I tossed it aside. Reading that would just depress me. Finally I got to the letter from Hogwarts. Noticing that it was rather thicker than usual, I quickly slit it open, and gasped. Out of the letter, neat and shiny, a badge had fallen out with the letters _HG_ on it. Heart pounding with excitement I ripped the letter open and began to read.

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
>(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,<br>Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as our Head Girl for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. Also attached to this is a list of your set books for the year and a list of instructions with your Head Girl duties. Should you wish to decline the post of Head Girl, then we await your owl by no later than July 31__st__. Term begins September 1__st__ as usual. The Hogwarts Express leaves at 11.00am sharp at platform nine and three-quarters. _

_Congratulations on your achievement._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress._

I stared at the page with shock. Head Girl, me? It couldn't be, surely there was some sort of mistake. But there it was, clearly printed on the page- and I had the badge, didn't I?

"YES!" I jumped into the air and pumped my fist, startling Toffee who was still drinking from the water bowl. I laughed- this was amazing! I hadn't felt this happy in a long time. I stood there, excitement coursing through me, when I remembered that there was more to the letter. I quickly scanned through my booklist and read the list of Head Girl duties. _Talk to the prefects on the train, patrol the corridors, follow the rules _etc. Not too difficult. Then I saw something else on the list. _Head students share their own dormitory. _"No way," I said to myself. "I get my own dormitory? Ha!" I hadn't been this ecstatic in a long time. _I wonder who the Head Boy is, _I thought to myself_. I hope he's not a Slytherin. I don't think I could stand sharing a dorm with him if he was. Maybe it's Remus Lupin, the only responsible seventh-year Gryffindor. Yes, that's likely; he's a prefect after all_.

Thinking that I had to share this exciting news with someone else, I quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs. At first I wasn't sure who to tell, but then it came to me. Mrs Patmore had been so good to me; it wouldn't be fair if I went to someone else first. I hummed a merry tune and said hello to a couple of people who passed me. The sun was shining, I had the day off and I had become Head Girl- what could possibly go wrong today? It was then I remembered the headline of the _Daily Prophet_, and felt suddenly guilty. What right did I have to be so happy, when there were so many people around me suffering? Feeling sobered, I hurried to Daisy's café and was there within two minutes. Just as I was about to go in, I saw four people that made me halt in my tracks; James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were sitting at one of the tables.

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><p><strong>There you have it! Personally, I would not in any way count that as a cliff-hanger, and it's not the best place to end a chapter either, but there you go. There wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but hopefully there will be more in the next :D Reviews are like sunshine and blue sky in winter, hint hint.<strong>

**And just out of curiosity- do people actually read authors notes? **

**-roflshvuakomail (rolling on the floor laughing so hard voldemort used avada kedavra on me and I lived) x**


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